A week passed as they all read through files on demon possession in the Men of Letters library. Castiel was still with them in the bunker, but he spent most of his time in one of the extra bedrooms. He didn't normally need sleep, but the angel blade bullet that Crowley shot him with had injured him more than he thought. He needed rest, which Dean was glad for. Dean was avoiding Castiel, almost treating him like a stranger.
The time Dean spent avoiding Castiel, was also spent hovering over Lily. He made sure she ate. Made sure she rested. Generally, he drove her crazy, but she was glad to have him home. Especially at night when it was time to sleep. She always slept better with him next to her, knowing he was safe, and that he would be there in the morning.
That was something they both loved: waking up in each other's arms.
Lily nuzzled her face into her pillow as she slowly woke. She felt Dean's body pressed against her back as they lay on their sides, and could tell by his deep, even breaths that he was still asleep. She also felt the baby pressed against her bladder. The thought of leaving Dean's warm embrace made her groan, but the need for relief was urgent. She carefully lifted Dean's arm and, with some effort, scooted toward the edge of the bed.
Lily giggled at herself as she practically waddled down the hall. She was smiling when she passed by Sam's door, and he almost ran into her as he rushed out.
"Hey," he said, grabbing her shoulders. "Sorry."
"We're fine," Lily said with a hand on her stomach. "Where are you rushing to?"
"You have to ask," he asked with a grin.
Lily rolled her eyes. "The library, of course. What was I thinking?"
Sam patted her shoulder as he walked past her, and she finished her trek to the bathroom. They were all worried about Sam. He was thin, and barely sleeping. The circles under his eyes got darker almost by the day, it seemed.
When Lily got back to the bedroom, Dean was in the same position. She gently got back in the bed and slid beneath his arm. As she settled back against him, his arm snaked around her, between her belly and her breasts, and he pulled her closer. His nose brushed against her neck as he took a deep breath.
"You abandoned me," he said.
"Sorry. You can blame your daughter for that. She seems to think my bladder is her personal seat."
Dean nuzzled against Lily, placing a light kiss below her ear. "I guess I'll have to have another talk with her, later."
"Couldn't hurt," Lily said.
"What time is it?"
"Too early for us. Go back to sleep," she whispered.
"Don't have to tell me twice."
When Lily woke a few hours later, it was because of a different sensation. With his hand under her t-shirt, Dean gently massaged her breast, and his lips barely touched her neck, unmoving. She moaned and felt his lips curl up into a smile against her skin.
"Good morning," he whispered.
"It is with this kind of wake up call."
Lily moved to roll onto her back, so Dean shifted a bit. He removed his hand from her shirt and brought it up to her face as he captured her lips with his own. Lily's hand glided down Dean's bare chest as he brushed her hair away from her face. His hand gently smoothed over her head.
"What time is it," she whispered against Dean's lips.
"A little after nine." Dean's thumb brushed over Lily's jaw, then he trailed the back of a finger down her neck. With one more lingering kiss, he pulled back. "I'll go make us breakfast. Then we'll help Sam and Kevin. I'm sure they're already up and at it."
"I know Sam is. He was just getting up when I got up before."
Dean sighed. "You mean he actually slept?"
"Well, he was coming from his room... So, I guess he slept. Hopefully."
"Yeah, hopefully."
Lily watched as Dean got up and went to the closet. He pulled on a pair of clean jeans and her favorite grey Henley that fit him so perfectly.
"No sweats today," Lily asked.
"No. I need to make a supply run later, so I might as well get dressed." He walked back to the bed, leaned over, and gave Lily another lingering kiss. "I'll meet you in the kitchen."
"Okay," she said with a smile.
She pulled herself from the bed and grabbed her favorite pair of sweat pants and a bra. The t-shirt she slept in would be fine to piddle around the bunker. To give Dean time to get breakfast ready, she took a detour to the library to check on Sam and Kevin. She was surprised to see Dean there with a big pile of folders. He walked over to Sam and sat them on the table.
"Please tell me that's everything," Sam said.
"Yeah," Dean said with a chuckle. "No, not even close. You see, the Men of Letters kept files on every demonic possession for the last 300 years. I mean, we've got 'Borden, Lizzy,' all the way to 'Crane, Ichabod.'
"Aah."
Lily sat next to Sam. "How are you feeling," she asked him.
"Honestly, um... My whole body hurts. I feel nauseous and like I'm starving at the same time, and everything smells like rotting meat."
"I've had that hangover," Dean said, shaking his head. "Jaeger, man. Maybe you should take a break, get some air."
"Dean, the only thing that's gonna make me feel better is finishing this."
"All right. Well, I'll go get you some grub, keep your strength up."
Lily looked up when she heard Castiel enter the room. He muttered a "good morning" as Dean walked past him without acknowledging him.
He took a seat at the table. "I like this bunker. It's orderly."
"Oh, give us a few months," Lily said. "Dean wants to get a ping-pong table."
"I've heard of that. It's a game, right?" Castiel let out a groan.
"Are you okay," Sam asked.
"My wound isn't healing as quickly as I'd hoped... But I am getting better. And you're getting worse."
"Well," Sam said, "two trials down, one to go."
"And the final test, do you know what it is?"
"I have to cure a Demon."
"Of what?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out."
"Soup's on," Dean said as he came back with a plate. He sat it in front of Sam. "There we go. I think this is, uh..." he sipped the open beer, then sat it next to the plate. "Oh, it's still good."
"A half-drunk beer, jerky, and three peanut-butter cups," Sam asked as he looked up at Dean.
"Yeah, we're running a little low. I'll make a run." He looked to Lily. "Nothing to fix breakfast."
"That's okay," Lily said. "I can wait for you to get back."
Dean winked at her as he grabbed his jacket and put it on.
"Dean," Castiel said, "I can go with you." When Dean didn't respond, he said, "Dean. I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For everything."
"Everything? Like, uh... Like ignoring us?"
"Yes."
"Or like bolting off with the Angel Tablet, then losing it 'cause you didn't trust me? You didn't trust me."
"Yes."
"Yeah. Nah, that's not gonna cut it. Not this time. So you can take your little apology and you cram it up your ass."
"Dean, I thought I was doing the right thing."
"Yeah, you always do."
Sam cleared his throat. "Hey, uh, do we have a room 7B?"
"What," Dean asked.
"There's a note in this file about a room 7B."
Dean took the file and looked it over. "I don't know. Let's go find it."
Lily positioned herself to stand from her chair, but Dean put a hand on her shoulder.
"I want you to stay here," he said.
"Why?"
Dean stooped down in front of her. "We don't even know where this room is, let alone what's inside. The file has a note with that room number and the word 'weird,' with three exclamation points. Considering what the Men of Letters have seen, that makes me cautious."
"Okay," Lily said. "I'll wait here and focus on how hungry I am."
Dean smiled. "As soon as we find the room, I'll head to the store and bring back food."
Dean placed a kiss on Lily's forehead as he stood. Lily closed her eyes at the tenderness. As Dean walked away, she realized someone was missing.
"Where's Kevin?"
"Sitting on the floor somewhere between the shelves with a stack of files."
Sam followed Dean out of the room, leaving her alone with Castiel. She gave him an awkward smile. A million ideas of what she could possibly say ran through her head. None of them were any good, but she didn't have to use them since Castiel spoke first.
"Dean's really upset with me, isn't he?"
"I'm... actually not sure if 'upset' would cover it."
Castiel gave a quick nod and looked away. Lily decided to keep looking through Sam's stack of files, in case the room they were looking for couldn't be found, or turned up empty.
The guys came back several minutes later. Sam was holding what looked like old-school movie reels. Dean continued to walk straight past them to the stairs.
"I'll be back soon," he called over his shoulder.
Lily turned her attention to Sam, who sat the reels on the table. "What's that," she asked.
"Not sure," Sam said. "I saw a projector the other day. I'm gonna set this up while Dean makes his food and supply run. We'll watch it when he gets back."
Sam had everything ready to go when Dean walked through the door with a few bags. He opened a box and sat it in front of Lily before leaning down for a quick kiss.
"Eat," he said.
Lily didn't bother to mention that she hated when he said things like he was giving her an order. She was starving. She removed the plastic fork from its wrapper and dug in.
"Yo, Kev!" Dean yelled out while he finished unpacking the food. He sat another box in front of Sam. "You eat, too."
Sam rolled his eyes. "What about the rest of the food and supplies?"
"In the car. I'll get it. Kevin!"
Dean was just about to call for him again when Kevin emerged from between the shelves. "What?"
"Help me bring in the bags, then you can eat."
"Dean," Sam said, "I can help with the bags."
"You sit. I need you to rest."
After everyone was seated, Kevin turned out the lights, and Sam started the projector. An old, black and white, home movie began to play. A woman was on the floor, chained, growling and screaming. Her eyes were black.
"Hey," Sam said, "those chains look exactly like the ones in our dungeon."
"In our what," Lily asked.
"Demon on a leash," Dean said with a smirk. "Cool."
"I'm sorry," Lily said. "Did you say dungeon?"
"Shhh. Hang on," Dean said as he leaned forward in his chair.
Lily's eyes widened as she stared at the man who shushed her, but her attention was drawn suddenly back to the projection screen. The priest on the film began an incantation. A white light filled the screen, and the possessed woman was lying on the floor, unmoving. She was dead, and the priest ordered the camera to stop rolling.
"Well," Dean said, "that was weird... with three exclamation points."
"That wasn't a normal exorcism." Sam said. "They changed the words."
"I believe 'lustra' is Latin for wash or cleanse," Castiel added.
"Oh, yeah," Dean said, "'cause that was the most freaky thing was the vocabulary. Anything else on the film?"
"Yeah," Sam said, "listen to this. The older priest, Max Thompson, bit the dust in '58, but the younger one is still alive and still in St. Louis."
"Think this kind of weird is worth the drive?"
"Dean, everything in those folders... the possessions, the deals, all of it... we've seen that before, but that," Sam said, pointing to the blank screen, "that was all new. Yeah, it's worth the drive."
"All right. Let's roll." Dean saw Castiel stand. "Not you."
"Sam is more damaged than I am," Castiel said.
"Yeah, well, you know, even banged up, Sammy comes through."
"Dean, I just want to help."
"We don't need your help. Just stay here and... get better."
Lily slowly stood and walked over to Dean. He pulled her into his arms and she took a deep breath.
"We shouldn't be gone for more than a day," he said. "Two if we find something major to look into."
"You two be careful."
"Keep an eye on Cas," Dean whispered. "He's like a giant child."
"Takes one to know one, Dean," Lily said with a grin.
"Hey, I might act like a big kid, but I'm fun. He's the kind who screws up, like he doesn't know any better."
"Call me if you can," Lily said. "Love you."
"Love you." Dean gave her a soft, lingering kiss before pulling away and leaving with Sam.
When Lily turned around, Kevin was tinkering with the projector.
"What are you doing," Lily asked.
"I want to watch this again. I'd like to get that Latin copied down and translated, just in case Sam and Dean can't get it from that priest."
"Want some help?"
"Nah, I got it."
Lily glanced around the room. "Where's Castiel?"
"I think I saw him headed toward the bedrooms."
"Good," she said. "He needs rest."